Boxing ring seat



Jan. 15, 1963 c. s. MONTGOMERY 3,

BOXING RING SEAT Filed Jan. 19. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Clarence 62 L Montgomery \INVENTOR.

Jan. 15, 1963 c. G. L. MONTGOMERY 3,073,560

BOXING RING SEAT Filed Jan. 19, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.6

R. m Wm M mm o A 0V 9 mm F 0 M M L. M a w W n e United States Patent Ofifice 3,073,560 Patented Jan. 15, 1963 3,073,560 BQXING RING SEAT Clarence G. L. Montgomery, 627 E. (lathe Ira Poudre, Colorado Springs, Colo. Filed Jan. 19, 1961, Ser. No. 83,816 12 Claims. (Cl. 248-24045) This invention relates to a novel and useful attachment for boxing rings and more specifically to a ring seat attachment specifically adapted to be supported by a boxing ring corner post of the type used to support the ring ropes at the corners thereof.

The corners of the ring ropes are usually supported by an elongated horizontally disposed tension member secured between the post and the associated rope and projecting inwardly and diagonally of the boxing ring from the corner post thereof. The boxing ring seat of the in stant invention includes an elongated support member which is disposed substantially horizontally and secured at one end to the inner face of the boxing ring post with the free end thereof projecting inwardly and diagonally of the ring. The support member is hollow and receives therethrough the elongated tension member by which the corner of the ring rope is secured to the corner post. The elongated tension member extends through the support member and a spaced distance beyond the inner end of the support member to a point where it is secured in any convenient manner to the ring rope. 'Ihe boxing ring seat includes a mounting member which is elongated and has a seat secured to one end thereof. The other end of the mounting member is pivotally secured to the innermost end of the support member for movement about a substantially horizontally disposed axis extending transversely of the support and mounting members. The lower rope of a boxing ring is at a level above the flooring of the boxing ring an amount substantially equal to the desired height of a seat on which a boxer may rest between rounds.

The mounting member may be swung between two limit positions, one with the mounting member substantially horizontally disposed and the other with the mounting member in an upright position with the free end thereof disposed uppermost. The horizontally disposed position extends the seat on the mounting member to a horizontal position within the ring area defined by the lower rope and the mounting member is swung upwardly to the retracted or raised position inasmuch as it would be undesirable for it to be swung downwardly to a retracted position since a malfunction of the raising and lowering means could quite possibly occur while a boxer is seated on the seat which would result in the seat pivoting to the retracted position from under the boxer. Thus, the seat assembly has been constructed in a manner whereby it may not be pivoted downwardly but only upwardly during the time when the seat is vacated. In this manner, the embarrassing situation of a boxer being suddenly dropped to the floor assembly of a boxing ring is prevented.

However, inasmuch as the support member is disposed at a height equal to that of the lower rope above the flooring of the ring and the seat is to be disposed, when in the lowered position, at substantially the same height, the mounting member is provided with a generally inverted U-shaped inner end adapted to straddle the corner of the lower rope in order to provide sufiicient clearance for the latter.

The main object of this invention is to provide a boxing ring seat assembly in accordance with the preceding description which will provide a rigid support for a boxer resting between rounds.

A further object of this invention, in accordance with the immediately preceding object, is to provide a boxing ring seat whose seat portion may be readily swung from an extended position positioned inwardly of the ring area defined by the lower rope of a boxing ring to a retracted position outwardly of the ring area defined by the ring ropes.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a ring seat which may be either manually moved between its extended and retracted limit positions or automatically moved between its limit positions by means of a power source operable by remote control.

A further object of this invention is to provide a boxing ring seat which may be readily adapted for use with existing boxing rings.

And a final object to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a boxing ring seat which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and easy to operate so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long-lasting and relatively trouble-free in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of a boxing ring with the boxing ring seat of the instant invention mounted upon a corner post of the boxing ring and with the seat thereof in the extended posi-' tion;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional View of the boxing ring corner post and the ring seat taken substantially upon a plane passing through the longitudinal center line of the corner post of the boxing ring and showing the manner in which the boxing ring seat may be powered by an electric motor, the raised position of the ring seat being shown in phantom lines;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view similar to that of FIGURE 2 but 'showing'the manner in which a handcrank may be operatively connected to the ring seat for operating the latter by hand in lieu of the electric motor illustrated in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical cir-" cuit by which the various control and limit switches .are operatively connected to the electric motor utilized to raise and lower the seat.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings the numeral 10 generally designates a boxing ring including a flooring 12. The flooring 12 is provided with corner posts including the post 14. The post 14 is rectangular in cross-section and is hollow. The post 14 may of course be any shape in cross-section.

The rink 10 includes an upper rope 16 and a lower rope 18. The lower rope 1 8 has a corner formed therein as at 20 adjacent the post 14 and an elongated tension member in the form of a bolt 22 is secured at one end to the corner 20 in any convenient manner and through the post 14 at the other end by means of a nut 24. The post 14 has an opening 26 formed therein through which an intermediate portion of the bolt 22 passes and a bore 28 formed therein through which the threaded outer end passes for engagement with the nut 24.

The ring seat assembly of the instant invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 30 andincludes an elongated tubular support member 32 which is rectangular in cross-section. One end of the support member 32 is fixedly secured to the post 14 in any convenient manner about the opening 26 and extends horizontally and diagonally of the ring inwardly from the post 14. The mounting member 32 includes a pair of opposite side walls 34 and 36 interconnected by means of an upper wall 38 and a lower wall 40.

The boxing ring seat assembly 30 also includes an elongated mounting member generally referred to by the reference numeral 42 which includes opposite side walls 44 and 46 interconnected by means of a top wall 48 and a bottom wall 50. The mounting member is elongated and is provided with an opening 52in its top wall 42 and a slot 54 in its bottom wall 50. One end of the mounting member 42 adjacent the opening 52 of the slot 54 is pivotally secured to the inner end of the support member 32 by means of a pivot pin 56.

With attention now directed to FIGURE 4 of the drawings it will be noted that the opposite side walls 44 and 46 of the mounting member 32 embrace and receive therebetween the inner end of the support member 32. The pivot pin 56 has a pulley 58 mounted thereon and for rotation therewith. The pulley 58 includes a bore 60 formed along a chord thereof which intersects with the axial bore 62 formed in the pulley 58 through which the pivot pin 56 is secured. A pair of spacing members 64 and 66 are disposed between the opposite sides of the pulley 58 and the internal surfaces of the side walls 44 and 46 and are received through the bores 68 and 70 formed in the side walls 34 and 36 respectively.

The outer end of the bottom wall 40 is provided with a curved upturned end portion 72 and the mounting member 42 has a U-shaped inner portion generally referred to by the reference numeral 74 which includes a curved terminal inner end portion of the bottom wall 50 designated by the reference numeral 76 which directly underlies the curved portion 72 when the mounting member is substantially horizontally disposed.

With attention now directed to FIGURE 2 of the drawing it will be noted that the mounting member 42 may be pivoted between a horizontally disposed limit position and an upstanding position such as indicated in phantom lines disposed against the inner surface of the post 14. When in the horizontal limit position, the engagement of the curved portion 76 of the bottom wall 50 with the bottom wall prevents further downward movement of the inner end of the mounting member 42. When in the upstanding retracted limit position, the portion of the top wall 48 disposed in the U-shaped portion 74 abuts against the inner face of the post 14 to limit further upward movement of the free end of the mounting member 42.

The free end of the mounting member 42 is provided with a substantially straight terminal end portion 78 on which a seat 80 is secured in any convenient manner. The opening 52 formed in the top wall 48 enables the mounting member 42 to be swung upwardly as illustrated in phantom lines in FIGURE 2 by providing clearance for the support member 32 to be received within that portion of the mounting member 42.

With attention again directed to FIGURE 2 of the drawing, it will be noted that an electric motor 82 is mounted beneath the flooring 12 by means of a bracket 84. It is to be understood that the motor 82 is of the reversible type and that it is provided with an output shaft 86 drivingly connected to a pulley 88 journaled for rotation by means of bracket 90. An endless flexible member 92 is entrained over the pulleys 5 8 and 88 and is guided through the support member 32 of the post 14 by means of a pair of pulleys 94 and 96 disposed at the intersection of the support member 32 and the post 14 and a pair of pulleys 98 and 100 disposed at the bottom of the post 14 and below the flooring 12. It will be noted that the bottom end of the post 14 is secured in an opening 102 formed in the flooring 12 and that the pulleys 98 and 100 are journaled by means of support means 104 and 106. The pulleys 94 and 96 are journaled for rotation about horizontal axes within the post 14 by means of axle pins 108 and 110 respectively. The endless flexible member 92 is also entrained about the pulleys 94 and 96 and the pulleys 98 and 100 and these pulleys comprising guide means for the endless flexible member 92 prevent the latter from coming in contact with the internal surfaces of the support member 32 and the post 14. The endless flexible member 92 passes through the bore 60 formed in the pulley 58 and is secured therein by means of the pivot pin 56 which constricts the adjacent portion of the flexible member 92. Thus, the flexible member 92 is positively secured to the pulley 58. However, the pulley 96 also includes a bore lying on a chord thereof which is designated by the reference numeral 112 that also receives the flexible member therethrough. The flexible member 92 is however merely entrained over the pulleys 94, 98 and 100. Inasmuch as the flexible member 92 is encircled almost entirely about the pulley 88, it is deemed unnecessary to fixedly secure the flexible member 92 to the pulley 88.

Upon operation of the electric motor 82 the pulley 88 will be rotated and a pull will be effected on the endless flexible member 92 which will effect rotation of the pulley 58 and pivotal movement of the mounting member 42 to move the seat 30 from one limit position toward the other.

A manual switch is secured to the post 14 and is operatively connected to the motor 82 for effecting operation of the motor in either direction. The switch 120 has an up and down position and when in the up position operation of the motor 82 is eiiected to raise the free end of the mounting member 42. When the switch 120 is positioned as illustrated in FIGURE 2 of the drawings in the down position, the motor 82 is actuated to pivot the free end of the mounting member downwardly as illustrated in solid lines. An upper limit switch 122 is secured to the inner surface of the post 14 and has an actuator 124 projecting outwardly of the post through a bore 126 formed therein. The upper limit switch 122 is disposed in the electrical circuit between the switch 120 and the motor 82 so as to interrupt the flow of electricity to the motor 82 when it is operating to raise the mounting member 42. When the top wall 43 abuts the free end of the actuator 124, the electrical circuit closed by the switch 120 to effect operation of the motor 82 in order to raise the mounting member 42 is opened thus terminating the operation of the electric motor 82. The support member 32 also is provided with a limit switch 128 provided with an actuator 130. When the switch 120 is moved to the lowered position the electric motor 82 is actuated to lower the mounting member 42 and when the latter reaches its lowered limit position the actuator 130 is engaged by the mounting member 42 to open the electrical circuit to the electric motor 82 for lowering the mounting member 42. Accordingly, the switch 120 may be actuated to begin operation of the electric motor 82 to either raise or lower the seat 80 and the limit switches 122 and 128 are engaged by the mounting member 42 to terminate the operation of the electric motor 82 when the mounting member 42 has reached the raised and lowered position respectively.

The switch 120 has a lead-in wire connected to the terminal 121 which has a bridging element pivotally secured thereto for selective engagement with the terminals 123 and 125. A lead-in wire 127 extends from the terminal 123 to the motor 82 and has the limit switch 122 disposed therein. The lead-in wire 129 extends from the terminal to the motor 82 and has a limit switch 128 disposed therein. The motor is operated at reverse directions by current flowing through the wires 127 and 129 and the wire 131 comprises a ground wire for the about the pulley 80 and is only frictionally coupled with the electric motor 82, even if the rotation of the output shaft 86 is prevented by malfunction the crank arm 132 may be pivoted by means of the handle 134 secured to the free end thereof to raise and lower the seat 80.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination with an upright post of the type used to support the ring ropes of a boxing ring at the corners thereof by means of the elongated horizontal tension members secured between the post and the associated rope and projecting inwardly and diagonally of the boxing ring, a boxing ring seat comprising an elongated horizontal support member secured at one end to said upright post and directed inwardly and diagonally of said boxing ring and terminating a spaced distance inwardly of the lowermost of said ropes, a seat assembly including an elongated mounting member having a seat secured to one end thereof, means pivotally securing the other end of said mounting member to the end of said support member remote from said upright post for movement about a horizontally disposed axis extending transversely of said support member and said mounting member between limit positions with said mounting member raised and substantially vertically disposed and the free end thereof uppermost and adjacent said post and the lower position with said mounting member disposed substantially horizontally, said horizontal support member being hollow and having one of said tension members extending longitudinally therethrough.

2. The combination of claim 1 including means se-' cured between said mounting member and said post for raising and lowering said mounting member.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said mounting member includes a U-shaped portion intermediate its opposite ends adapted for receiving and straddling one of said ropes when in the lowered position.

4. The combination of claim 1 including means secured between said mounting member and said post for raising and lowering said mounting member, wherein said raising and lowering means including motor means having a friction connection with said mounting member.

5. The combination of claim 4, wherein said motor means includes a reversible electric motor.

6. The combination of claim 5, including switch means operatively connected with said motor for beginning operation thereof in either direction and switch means engageable with a movable portion of said seat assembly for terminating operation of said motor upon movement of said mounting member to either of said limit positions.

7. In combination with an upright post such as a boxing ring corner post of the type used to support the ring ropes at the corners thereof by means of elongated horizontal tension members secured between said post and the associated rope and projecting inwardly and diagonally of said boxing ring, a boxing ring seat comprising an elongated horizontal support member secured at one end to said upright post and adapted to be directed inwardly and diagonally of said boxing ring and to terminate a spaced distance inwardly of the lowermost of said ropes, a seat assembly including an elongated mounting member having a seat secured to one end thereof, means pivotally securing the other end of said mounting member to the end of said support member remote from said upright post for movement about a horizontally disposed axis extending transversely of said support member and said mounting member between limit positions with said mounting member raised and substantially vertically disposed and the free end thereof uppermost adjacent said post and a lowered position with said mounting member disposed substantially horizontally, said horizontal support member being hollow and adapted to have one of said tension members extend longitudinally there'- through, means secured between said mounting member and said post for raising and lowering the former, said ring having a floor structure and said post being sup ported at its lower end by means of said floor structure and being hollow, said raising and lowering means including a motor carried by said floor structure and provided with an output shaft having a drive pulley thereon, said post being hollow, said mounting member having a pulley mounted concentrically with its axis of rotation and for rotation therewith, an endless flexible member entrained over said pulleys and guide means in said post guiding movement of said flexible member therethrough.

8. The combination of claim 7, wherein said guide means includes at least one pulley journaled at the intersection of said support member and said post, and crank means removably engageable with said one pulley for effecting rotation of the latter.

9. The combination of claim 8, wherein said motor comprises a reversible electric motor, switch means operatively connected with said motor for beginning operation thereof in either direction and switch means engageable with a movable portion of said seat assembly for terminating operation of said motor upon movement of said mounting member to either of said limit positions.

10. In combination with an upright boxing ring corner post of the type used to support the ring ropes at the corners thereof by means of elongated horizontal tension members secured between said post and the associated rope and projecting inwardly diagonally of said boxing ring, a boxing ring seat comprising elongated tubular support means secured at one end to said post and having the corresponding one of said tension members extending therethrough, a seat assembly including an elongated mounting member having a seat on one end and pivotally secured to the free end of said tubular support means at the other end for bringing movement about an axis extending transversely of said tubular and mounting members.

11. The combination of claim 10 wherein said mounting member includes a U-shaped portion intermediate its opposite ends receiving and straddling one of said ropes when in the lowered position.

12. In combination with an upright boxing ring corner post of the type used to support the ring ropes at the corners thereof by means of elongated horizontal tension members secured between said post and the associated rope and projecting inwardly and diagonally of said boxing ring, a boxing ring seat comprising elongated tubular support means secured at one end to said post and having the corresponding one of said tension members extending therethrough, a seat assembly'including a seat movably mounted on said tubular support means for movement between a first extended position disposed beyond the free end of said tubular support means and a second retracted position with said seat disposed a spaced distance toward said post from a plane extending transversely of the free end of said tubular support means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 483,265 Schindler Sept. 27, 1892 939,937 Winans Nov. 9, 1909 1,185,404 Hughes May 30, 1916 2,407,747 Sanderson Sept. 17, 1946 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH AN UPRIGHT POST OF THE TYPE USED TO SUPPORT THE RING ROPES OF A BOXING RING AT THE CORNERS THEREOF BY MEANS OF THE ELONGATED HORIZONTAL TENSION MEMBERS SECURED BETWEEN THE POST AND THE ASSOCIATED ROPE AND PROJECTING INWARDLY AND DIAGONALLY OF THE BOXING RING, A BOXING RING SEAT COMPRISING AN ELONGATED HORIZONTAL SUPPORT MEMBER SECURED AT ONE END TO SAID UPRIGHT POST AND DIRECTED INWARDLY AND DIAGONALLY OF SAID BOXING RING AND TERMINATING A SPACED DISTANCE INWARDLY OF THE LOWERMOST OF SAID ROPES, A SEAT ASSEMBLY INCLUDING AN ELONGATED MOUNTING MEMBER HAVING A SEAT SECURED TO ONE END THEREOF, MEANS PIVOTALLY SECURING THE OTHER END OF SAID MOUNTING MEMBER TO THE END OF SAID SUPPORT MEMBER REMOTE FROM SAID UPRIGHT POST FOR MOVEMENT ABOUT A HORIZONTALLY DISPOSED AXIS EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID SUPPORT MEMBER AND SAID MOUNTING MEMBER BETWEEN LIMIT POSITIONS WITH SAID MOUNTING MEMBER RAISED AND SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICALLY DISPOSED AND THE FREE END THEREOF UPPERMOST AND ADJACENT SAID POST AND THE LOWER POSITION WITH SAID MOUNTING MEMBER DISPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY, SAID HORIZONTAL SUPPORT MEMBER BEING HOLLOW AND HAVING ONE OF SAID TENSION MEMBERS EXTENDING LONGITUDINALLY THERETHROUGH. 